


Omen

by RegalGirl94



Series: Insidious [1]
Category: Insidious (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Astral Projection, Danger, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Roller Coaster, Family, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, How Do I Tag, La Llorona, Mediums, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spirit World, Spirits, Supernatural Elements, Tags Are Hard, The Astral Plane, The Further
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28634847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalGirl94/pseuds/RegalGirl94
Summary: A family struggling to adjust to life without their parents encounter more misfortune when their youngest member, young Teresa Sanchez, falls to sleep and inexplicably cannot wake up. Exhausting all natural options, Callie Lambert comes to offer answers based on the secret traumatic events her family went through.
Series: Insidious [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2098434
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

"No running in the house!" Raul yelled as his younger sister, Teresa, was running into the kitchen.

"Sorry," the innocent girl murmured. "Carmela and I were racing."

Raul stopped short at the name his sister uttered. He watched her put out a bowl in front of her and the empty chair beside her before filling both with cereal and milk. He'd have to throw away the soggy cereal when Teresa was getting her bag for school ready. She was nine – much too old for an imaginary friend – but the social worker he talked to said it was common for kids to regress after going through what their family had gone through. It had only been a month or so. So, he didn't have to be too concerned just yet. He had her see a counselor though.

Marco, the resident teenager of the Sanchez household, bowled through the kitchen bouncing on his foot while he put a shoe on the other.

"Don't forget you need to pick Teresa up from afterschool care," Raul reminded the sixteen-year-old. "I have back-to-back portraits today and pretty much all weekend with senior portraits starting up."

"I got it, but I haven't been able to get my noon to three shift at work covered for Sunday," Marco told him. "I'll keep trying, but you know how my manager is."

"Which is why I say you quit and focus on school," Raul said, taking a large gulp from his black coffee.

"I want to help, Junior," Marco argued quietly.

Raul knew it was a losing battle. He couldn't ban Marco from working part time on the weekends. Not unless his grades started to suffer, and he had a reason to justify doing so. So far, Marco had been able to hang onto his 3.0 GPA. All while working and playing forward on his school's soccer team. Raul couldn't help but be immensely proud of his little brother.

"Make sure to eat something and bring a snack for school," Raul said. He gave little Teresa a forehead kiss and told her to do the same before he left the house to rush to work.

Throughout the rest of the week, Raul was swamped with senior portraits at work all while trying to get Marco and Teresa through the end of their school year. Their first school year without their parents.

A couple weeks before the last school day, he came in for a normal meeting with Teresa's counselor. Her teacher was present. They all just wanted to help the poor girl who didn't seem to be coping well at all with the absence of her parents at such a young age.

"Hello Mr. Sanchez, it's nice to see you," the counselor, Dr. Townshend, said as she shook his hand.

"Yeah, hi," he said awkwardly. It was still awkward to act as the official guardian of his sister at the age of 25. He gave a nod to his sister's teacher, Miss Fischer, who smiled warmly.

"Let's take a seat," Dr. Townshend said, leading them to the couch and cushioned seats adjacent to her desk in her office. "I want to start this meeting by assuring you, Mr. Sanchez, that you are doing an excellent job given the unfortunate circumstances. You're doing all you're supposed to do, and we are here to help provide you with the resources your family needs. What Teresa is going through isn't uncommon. It's a way of coping – latching onto her innocence to avoid dealing with the big life transition."

"I'm more concerned with the fact that we all thought this would be temporary and it's been almost six weeks," Raul cut in. "I've done what you said and not insisted that Carmela isn't real. So as to… not ' _shatter_ her fantasy' too soon. But… I don't know what to do anymore."

"I still believe we have to avoid that," Townshend cautioned. She eyed the teacher sitting next to Raul on the couch.

Miss Fischer frowned and pulled a manilla envelope from her purse. "I'm concerned about a couple of the other kids that have started teasing Teresa."

Raul's face morphed into a glare. "She's being bullied and you're telling me now!?"

"I was only made aware on Friday," she said quickly. "I reprimanded the kids and sent letters home to their parents. But there's the fact that Teresa has started to isolate herself at recess, just drawing. I have some of them here, that she gave me."

Raul scanned through the drawings as the teacher laid them out on the coffee table in the office. A few of them depicted Teresa and another girl, often labeled as Carmela, in a square shaped dress and poufy sleeves. One, however, only had a woman. A woman with black hair, dressed in a white nightgown. It looked like she was floating, and Teresa had drawn big blue tears around her face.

"Who is that?" he asked, gesturing to the woman.

Miss Fischer shrugged. "Teresa said she didn't know the woman's name. Just that she was sad, and Teresa wanted to help her feel better."

"Teresa is projecting her own emotions onto these imaginary characters to avoid feeling them," Dr. Townshend explained. "She's created this little girl her age to relate to. And she's created this sad woman to try and comfort because, she herself wants to be comforted and doesn't know how that can happen. She doesn't understand what she needs."

Raul blew out a harsh sigh. "To be honest, I don't either."

"We're all going to figure that out together," the doctor said. "It's just important that you maintain that you are not at fault and not responsible for how she is handling this. Your job is just to be supportive and patient – which you have been. It's impossible for us to understand your position fully. All we can do is try to help."

The meeting didn't last much longer, and Raul didn't feel like any progress had been made. The councilor didn't want to worry yet that Teresa hadn't let go of her imaginary friends. She wanted to use them to help Teresa navigate her emotions. And help Raul do so as well.

When Raul got home, Marco had already made carnitas for tacos and Teresa had already set out placemats for four at the small kitchen table. Marco quietly asked, "How did it go?" when Raul was close enough, so Teresa didn't hear.

"Same," he grunted. "I need a drink."

"We're out of beer, since I couldn't buy more when I did the shopping," Marco said.

"Well, I still got some of dad's tequila," Raul quipped.

* * *

Once school was out, it was harder for Raul to figure out what to do with Teresa, at least when Marco couldn't be home to watch her while he was at work. Chores around the house were piling up too. Laundry, dishes. There were only three of them. And Raul didn't know how to discipline Teresa when she didn't do more than clean half of her room. Even if Dr. Townshend said he shouldn't be too lenient with her and still continue to teach her responsibility around the house. As their parents had.

Raul had buckled and asked his cousin, Tina, to watch Teresa on the days that both he and Marco had work. Being a college student fresh out of spring semester, she could work with their schedules.

The apartment was in some sort of chaos one evening when he got home. He knew Tina wasn't the best cook in the world. So, when he walked in on her trying to make dinner for Teresa, he felt like he was walking in on a nuclear warzone. Two pots were boiling over with… something on the stove. And he could smell something burning.

"I think I'll just order pizza from Mario's," he announced as he walked in.

Tina started with a jump and whipped around to face him, her mouth in a perfect 'O' shape. "I… agree."

Raul rolled his eyes as he grabbed his cell and made the call.

Marco had gotten home before the pizza arrived, but Raul invited Tina to stay for dinner since she'd tried to make some. When it did arrive, he called out for Teresa. "Pizza is here!"

He heard the loud clomping of Teresa coming – running like she wasn't supposed to. And then he heard a loud thump and small yelp of his little sister.

"Teresa!?" he called out as he, Marco, and Tina all raced towards the thump. He saw Teresa sniffling and holding her wrist, crouched on the floor by the entryway from the front room to the hallway. He saw a crumpled jacket on the hardwood floors by her feet and realized she must have slipped on it and fallen. He crouched by her and pulled her onto his lap. "What have I told you about running in the house? AND leaving your clothes and stuff on the floor?"

"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

He took her wrist into his hand and scrutinized it. It looked red but not too swollen. After moving it around, he determined that it wasn't broken and gave her some ice. He helped her eat her dinner and then had Tina help her get ready for bed. Once he saw her out, he and Marco played some Fifa and called it a night.

The next morning, as always during summer, Raul was the first to wake up. He tidied what didn't get tidied last night and had a small breakfast when Marco came fumbling into the kitchen.

"Hey, I got to head into work soon, you told Tina what time she needed to come over today, right?" he asked.

Marco tiredly nodded as he pulled out some cereal. "Not 'til four. I'm closing tonight."

"And you're okay to get Teresa to her appointment at noon, right?" Raul checked.

Marco nodded again. "Don't worry."

"I'll go wake Teresa up," Raul said, making his way to her bedroom. He shared his with his brother in the two-bedroom apartment so the sister could get her own space. When he poked his head in, Teresa was half splayed on her stomach, legs tangled in the sheets on her pink and purple bed. Chuckling to himself, Raul went over and gently shook her shoulder. "Time to get up, _nena_."

Normally, Teresa would snort and snore and whine before slowly waking up. Now, she hadn't reacted at all. She must still be in a deep sleep.

"Mija, you better not have spent all night coloring again," Raul murmured as he shook her again. Again, she didn't move. Raul frowned, and took both of her shoulders in his hands to turn her fully onto her back and shake her firmer. "Teresa, it's time to wake up!"

When her eyes didn't even flutter, Raul grew frantic. He checked for breathing and a pulse, and she was okay on both fronts. She just seemed to be sleeping. But he couldn't wake her up.

"Teresa! Marco – call for an ambulance – NOW!"


	2. Chapter 2

FIVE WEEKS LATER

Teresa's room now more resembled a hospital suite. She hadn't once woken up or even given a sign that she was aware of her surroundings. Raul, Marco, all the doctors and specialists that had looked at her – had no clue what was wrong. There was no obvious sign that anything was wrong. Raul remembered trying to understand what her first doctor tried to explain to him.

"She's breathing without the use of a mechanical apparatus, and there are no lesions or hemorrhages in any of the CT scans," the doctor had said.

"So, this isn't because she fell?" Raul had asked, feeling so lost and so worried that he would lose more.

"There's no brain damage that we've detected," the doctor had said. "Just some minor bruises that match exactly what you and your brother said happened when she slipped. But she didn't hit her head. _Technically_ , she's in a coma. For lack of a better term. She doesn't respond to stimuli, has no sleep-wake cycle, but there's no trauma or infection to explain it. All the scans are normal. Unfortunately, Mr. Sanchez, I've never seen anything like this before."

Raul and Marco meticulously studied every instrument, wire, and tube, when the nurses came to set up Teresa's room at the apartment. Their social worker had also come to witness the transition. He'd been worried for weeks that this meant he would lose custody of his siblings. But he got one of the best and most compassionate social workers in Santa Barbara that understood that he did nothing bad to his sister and was doing his best as a guardian.

Many of her friends from school as well as her former teacher, Miss Fischer, came to visit. Along with extended family members and Tina. Raul took up some day labor work hovering outside Home Depot to make some extra cash to cover the medical bills. Tina insisted on helping with the financial burden as well. She felt some sort of responsibility having been there the night Teresa slipped. Even though that had been ruled out as the cause of the little girl's coma.

There was always someone home with Teresa at all times. Marco would sit at her side while he did his AP summer work. Tina would read to her from her favorite books – like Alice in Wonderland or The Tale of Despereaux. Raul… he would sit at her side and tell her how much he wanted her to wake up.

Raul got home late one night and found that Marco had fallen asleep at Teresa's side. He gently shook his brother awake and led the zombie-like teen to his bed. He then returned and took his seat at Teresa's bedside. He was too tired to speak. He just wanted to look at her and watch her breathe. Remind himself that she wasn't in pain. That she was just sleeping.

His musings were interrupted by the sudden sound of upbeat piano music. It sounded old school. And it sounded out of nowhere. None of them listened to that kind of music.

Raul stood and followed the sound, calling out his brother's name. Marco didn't answer. He passed their room and peeked in to see the younger Sanchez passed out on his small twin bed. He followed the sounds to the living room. But as soon as he stepped foot inside, the music stopped as abruptly as it started. And no one was there.

He figured stress was getting to him.

* * *

"Have you noticed anything strange, primo?" Tina asked him one afternoon.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he put together some arroz con leche for lunch.

"You know… when you're in Teresa's room, do you hear things, or… see things… weird things?" she asked, wringing her hands together.

Raul's mind went straight to the upbeat piano music. But he pretended it didn't. He pretended to be clueless. "No. Just Teresa."

" _Liar_ ," Tina spat in Spanish. She continued to hiss in their first language. " _I saw in your eyes that you knew what I meant. I believe Teresa isn't in a coma. Something else is wrong here._ "

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Raul said, turning his back on her while he got dishes for the food. "You're not a doctor, Tina."

"The doctors don't know what's happening to her either!" Tina pointed out loudly. "They've admitted that themselves. And it's not like you can afford to cart in every specialist to look at her just to say that they don't know what's going on either. This isn't medical, Raul!"

"Then what is it?" he asked her. "Supernatural? That's crazy!"

"Crazy like a healthy little girl going to sleep and never waking up again?" Tina spat.

"She's going to wake up!" Raul roared.

"It's been over a month," Tina said quietly. "When is she supposed to wake up? Monitoring her while doctors do nothing isn't going to make her wake up. We need to do something else."

Raul mocked her. "Like what? Burn sage and incense? Say a few 'hail mary's' or sacrifice a goat to El Chupacabra?"

"I called abuelita," Tina revealed – stone faced.

Before Raul could explode, the doorbell rang. With a stone face himself, Raul went to open the door, seeing his grandmother there and already walking in as if she was invited. Once she crossed the threshold, she froze and muttered ominously, "The dead walks here."

Raul rolled his eyes. "I don't want you here."

The woman with sunken cheeks and dark eyes turned on her grandson. "Don't I deserve to see my granddaughter when she is troubled? When I may be of help?"

Raul looked at her incredulously. "Help? You want to help now? Where was this help when Mami and Papi were taken away? Where was it when I was trying to hold onto the house or when we lost it and I had to move Marco and Teresa into my tiny apartment?"

"Primo, that's not fair," Tina said from the kitchen.

"What's not fair, is you going behind my back and inviting her into my home when you knew how I would feel about it," Raul said with a glower at his cousin. He turned on his grandmother again. "You know who helped? Marco – he got a part time job. Me – I got two jobs. Dr. Townshend and Teresa's teacher helped. Tina stepped in and helped. Our social worker helped – of all people, a servant of the government – she helped. I was drowning and they all helped. You didn't lift a finger unless you got something for it. And you always used to tell me that family meant everything. You help family. No matter what. You didn't. So… I guess we're not family."

The elder woman marched right up to him and lifted her hand to slap his face, but he caught her wrist and tossed her away from him. "Get out of my house!"

"La Llorona is after Teresa and she is getting close!" she croaked. "Like it or not, we are familia, and I know no doctors can help my granddaughter. But I can."

Raul rolled his eyes deeply. "La Llorona? Seriously? You came here with an urban legend meant to scare kids into behaving?"

"All legends have a seed of truth, mijo," the old woman said.

"La Llorona drowns bad kids," Raul pointed out. "She doesn't make them fall asleep forever and Teresa certainly isn't a bad kid."

"I know what I know, mijo, and I know this is La Llorona!" she rasped.

"Abuelita?" Marco's tired voice sounded from the hallway.

She turned with a wide smile and lurched forward to close her wide arms around the sixteen-year-old. "Mijo, my – you've grown! I've come to help Teresa."

"She doesn't need your help," Marco said as he pushed the woman off of him and looked at his brother. "Why is she here?"

"She's just leaving," Raul said sternly. He reopened the front door and pointed. "Now. Get out."

"It would be unwise to turn me away, mijo," she warned. "La Llorona wants Teresa and she will get her if you don't let me do something about it."

"In exchange for what?" he said, craning his neck down to glare at her. "Helping family means nothing to you without a price. And I won't pay it. Not to you. Get out."

"You'll call me when you're ready to admit the truth, mijo," she said as she left at last.

Raul turned his glare to his cousin and said, "Maybe you should leave too."

Tina recoiled and frowned deeply. Marco was more than confused. "What? What's going on?"

Indignation soon took Tina over and she gathered her purse and her jacket. "I was just trying to help!" And she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Raul was drowning. Actually drowning. The water pulled him down deeper into its darkness. He tried to grab at the waves and pull himself into the air and breathe. But the water slipped through his fingers and offered no aid. Then he felt something very physical and solid latch onto his ankle and pull him deeper into the darkness. On instinct, he peered down and only saw something white floating underneath him.

Gasping sharply for air, Raul lurched up when he woke up from his nightmare. Three nights in a row – he had the same one. Yet another thing to thank his abuelita for.

He had also taken to sleeping in Teresa's room since the La Llorona business. He refused to leave Teresa alone for even a second. If he had work, Marco was parked right by her side. He insisted on it. The hospital bills were piling up and he didn't know how he was going to cover them without getting a third job. And he didn't know how to go about that either.

It was all piling onto his shoulders, and he felt the weight with every breath he took.

On the fifth night, during the nightmare, he saw deep dark hollow eyes attached to the floating white that now looked like a dress. His abuelita's words were haunting him as much as Teresa's condition. More than any mysterious piano music or whatever else Tina was talking about before la bruja showed up at his doorstep.

He had to race to work that morning, making sure that Marco would be home. When he got to the modest studio that employed him, he was quick to sign in and set up his corner for his first appointment.

Later, his boss asked, "Hey, how's your sister doing?"

Raul sighed as he ate his sack lunch in the back room. "The same."

"That sucks, I'm sorry, man," the manager, Sam, said. "Doctors still have no ideas?"

Raul shook his head. "They say she's not getting worse. But that also means she's not getting better. We have no idea when she's going to wake up." Or if, he added his in mind but refused to say out loud. "And it's not getting any cheaper either."

"Yeah, I know that struggle. I dealt with that when my wife had to go through chemo," the older man said. "Almost sold this place to pay for her surgery. You know… my sister is a wedding planner."

Raul playfully narrowed his eyes at his boss. "I don't know where this is going."

Sam chuckled. "I mean that she's always looking for a photographer for the local stuff. And people often get married here in Elings Park and anywhere on the beach. Her local guy moved up the ladder to travel so she needs someone new. I already gave her your name. You should be getting a call for an interview to see your portfolio. So… I'd make sure it's in order if I were you."

Raul was speechless for nearly a full minute. He then lept to his feet and hugged his boss tight before clapping him on the back and thanking him profusely. He set his ringer on its highest volume and skipped home when he got off work for the day. Things were finally looking up.

Except when he got home, he could hear loud wailing inside the apartment. It sounded like a woman. Had Tina come over? Had she brought la bruja with her? Who was crying?

He quickly got out his house key and made his way inside. The wailing grew to a deafening level. He almost had to cover his ears.

"Marco! Teresa!"

He ran to his sister's room. And the minute he saw her cracked door, the wailing stopped as he rushed inside. The booming silence enveloped the room as he took in the sight of a sleeping Marco and Teresa. Marco, strewn over the armchair. And Teresa, peacefully in her bed. As always.

Marco stirred and blearily blinked at his brother. "Junior? Man, I must have passed out. It's been boring since I got all my work done."

Raul chuckled. "Why don't we play some fifa?"

Marco perked up and was out the door to set it up as quick as lightning. Raul pressed a kiss to Teresa's forehead and followed. Things would be fine. They had to be.

* * *

Raul was definitely looking forward to the days when he had his own washer and dryer and didn't have to go to the laundromat. He had to do his phone interview with Sam's sister while folding Marco's shorts and t-shirts. They arranged to meet and go over his portfolio on Saturday. It seemed promising.

But again, just as things seemed to be on the right track, something came to knock it apart. With a full basket of fresh clothes on his hip, he let himself into his apartment and was accosted by his little brother who seemed more scared than he'd ever seen him.

"Junior!" Marco cried when he saw his brother. "Someone was here! I saw them! They were in Teresa's room!"

"What?" Raul dropped the basket at the door and followed his brother into Teresa's room. It looked trashed. Papers and drawings strewn about on the floor. The chairs overturned. Teresa's bed had been pushed into the corner diagonally. Luckily, she was still sound asleep on top of it.

After checking her over – she was breathing and had a pulse – he turned to his little brother. "What happened? When did this happen!?"

"Literally like a minute ago, man," Marco said. "I saw this guy, all pale and dressed in black. Nasty looking. He was pacing down the hallway – I heard it first and went to check and then he was right here, and he pushed me down, Junior! He went into Teresa's room and the lights went out and I heard everything getting trashed all at once and I got the lights on and he was gone, and the room was like this."

"What do you mean, he was gone? Where'd he go?" Raul demanded.

Marco shrugged helplessly. "I—I don't know. I locked the door after you. Nothing was open. I didn't see him leave. He was there and then he was gone. That's it! It was like he was a ghost or something. Like Tina and abuelita were talking about."

"I don't want to hear any more about that," Raul said sternly. "Ghosts, spirits, La Llorona, none of it."

"That's too damn bad, Junior, because that's exactly what I think I saw," Marco said. "And I live here too. I love Teresa too. I am telling you what I saw happen just now and I know that she's in danger. I don't know how or what or who even. Something is wrong here!"

Their argument was cut off by a knock at the door and a timid voice calling out, "Hello? The door is open."

Raul schooled his features to project calmness and went to the front door to see the ajar door obscuring his view of a petite woman in the doorway. He opened the door, seeing a woman he didn't know. She had chin-length thick dirty blonde hair, dark chocolate eyes, and a heart-shaped face. "Sorry, I must not have closed it all the way."

"No worries," she said.

When she didn't walk away or add anything else, Raul grew confused and asked, "Can I help you?"

The girl bit into her pink bottom lip for a moment and then asked, "Are you Marco or Raul Sanchez?"

Remembering the scene in Teresa's bedroom that he still had to deal with, Raul tried to make this quick. "I'm Raul. Are you new to the building or something?"

"No, no, and you don't know me, we've never met. I'm a friend of Valentina's and she's told me about your situation. With your sister. I… I think – I _know_ what's wrong with her. And I think I can help."


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello… um, you don't know me. But I've heard about your situation. And I think I know about your situation. And I think I can help…" She couldn't figure out the words. She murmured to herself, "You haven't even mentioned Valentina yet. Gotta remember to do that first. Make yourself familiar. Then drop the bomb."

It was already starting to get dark when she finally left for Elings Park. After changing her outfit three times to appear personable and non-threatening. Or suspicious.

She had been friends with Valentina Sanchez for about a year and a half but never met any of her family members so this would all be difficult enough. But when Valentina had called her in tears last week about the situation with her cousins getting worse, she knew she had to help if she could.

She had been flummoxed when Valentina told her that her nine-year-old cousin Teresa had fallen into a mysterious coma that no one – not even the doctors – could explain. Her former classmate was beside herself with worry and doing about everything she could think of to make the whole thing easier on her older cousin who had guardianship of the girl. Her brother, along with another boy.

"They have no idea what's wrong with her?" she had asked her friend when she first came to her.

Valentina had had tears in her eyes as she explained. "No, they say she's basically in a coma but there's no head trauma or anything. All her tests are negative. She's just stuck asleep. She won't wake up."

When she heard that, her mind went right to an eerily similar situation within her own family. So many years ago. But it couldn't be… She convinced herself it wasn't the same.

Then Valentina confided in her again. This time, about apparitions in the apartment around Teresa's room once the hospital set her up at home.

"You believe in all of that kind of stuff, right? I mean, spirits and magic and supernatural type of stuff. At least that it's possible."

She had nodded and assured her friend that she did. "Tell me what's got you so worked up."

Valentina had checked that no one was around to overhear before whispering the story. "I was reading to Teresa the other night. Raul had a late shift fixing a botched porch job as a day laborer and I wanted to give Marco a break. That's why I couldn't come out for drinks."

"I get it, hun, let's get to the part where you saw something you can't explain."

"Well, I was reading to Teresa – Alice in Wonderland, it's her favorite – and I heard laughter. A little girl. I thought it was Teresa waking up and got excited, but it wasn't her. I kept hearing it, and then the little girl said to keep reading. That she liked this story. But I didn't see anyone there. I even checked the window, since it was open. But no one was in the alley behind the building. I checked the whole place and the only one around was Marco doing homework in his and Raul's room. He had his headphones on and didn't hear anything. I kept hearing that little girl asking me to keep reading. I went back into Teresa's room and saw the book floating in the air, open to the page I left off on."

"I mean, that sounds really weird but not as scary as you let on," she told her friend. "What are you holding back?"

Valentina swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded to herself, as if convincing herself that her friend would listen to her without judgment and she should tell the truth. "The other day, Marco and Raul both had work, so I was watching Teresa. I was making myself a snack before I went back to reading to her. I heard something and dropped what I was doing to check on her. And her bed was being dragged. And I mean, it was still moving when I got there. But I couldn't see anyone there moving it. I ran over and stopped it and put it back and I swear I felt something shove me into the wall. I wasn't hurt, so I didn't do anything. I just stayed with Teresa and read to her. Later that day, I was changing her sheets. When I stripped the ones still on the bed, I saw blood. Droplets of it, still wet. And I saw fingerprints in them. The whole room felt freezing when I saw it. I threw the sheets away. I didn't want Raul or Marco to see. But I couldn't get it out of my mind at all. I think my cousin is in danger."

She hadn't known what to say to her friend then. It sounded more and more familiar with each story Valentina came to her with. Until she finally told her about bringing her estrange grandmother to her cousin's apartment. How the whole debacle had gone awry when the elder started going on about how La Llorona was after Teresa's soul or something. And how Raul had thrown both of them out.

"I just don't know what to do anymore."

She had been reluctant to divulge what she knew to her friend. But at this point, she had to.

"Listen… I might know something that could help figure this out."

After explaining everything, her friend begged her to go to her cousin and tell him everything. And that found her dragging her feet to the Sanchez home in Elings Park. It was on the third floor and she even took the stairs to prolong the trip. She grew even more nervous when she reached the right door, and it was ajar.

She heard someone saying, "I don't want to hear any more about that. Ghosts, spirits, La Llorona, none of it."

"That's too damn bad, Junior, because that's exactly what I think I saw. And I live here too. I love Teresa too. I am telling you what I saw happen just now and I know that she's in danger. I don't know how or what or who even. Something is wrong here!"

She felt compelled to interrupt then, feeling weird overhearing the argument. She knocked on the door and called inside, "Hello? The door is open."

A young man walked over and opened the door the rest of the way. He was tall, with buzzed black hair, dark eyes and tan skin. She could tell he was stressed just by looking at him, but he was trying to put up a calm front. "Sorry, I must not have closed it all the way."

"No worries," she said. And her mind went blank. Like she forgot what she came here to say.

"Can I help you?" he asked her, startling her out of her thoughts.

She bit into her bottom lip for a moment and then asked, "Are you Marco or Raul Sanchez?"

"I'm Raul. Are you new to the building or something?"

She shook her head and began rambling. "No, no, and you don't know me, we've never met. I'm a friend of Valentina's and she's told me about your situation. With your sister. I… I think – I _know_ what's wrong with her. And I think I can help."

She could tell that he didn't understand what she was saying. She didn't even understand what she was saying, and she was the one saying it.

"I know that it sounds weird, I'm not really being as… articulate as I tend to be," she tried to say more clearly. "But what's going on with your sister, happened to my brother. And eventually, he woke up. And I think I know how to help Teresa wake up too."

She hated the flash of hope she saw in Raul's eyes as he ushered in. "Um, come in, come in."

She did and hovered in her spot as he shut the door. She followed him step by step to the small kitchen and sat down in the chair he pulled out for her. "Um, I'm Raul. But you knew that."

It took her a second to realize that she hadn't given him her name. "Oh! Sorry – I'm Callie Lambert. I go to SB City College, that's where I know Valentina from. She's confided in me about what's been going on since Teresa… was in the hospital. I hope you don't mind. She just needed a friend."

"I don't mind," he said. She noticed his eyes going to the hallway and then he called out for Marco to come to the kitchen. When the younger Sanchez boy appeared, Raul gestured to her. "This is Callie, a friend of Valentina's. She says her brother was like Teresa but woke up and thinks she can help."

"You do?" the younger boy asked excitedly.

She stressed the word, " ** _Maybe_** ," and then added, "Um, can I ask some questions about Teresa first?"

Raul looked trepidatious but Marco cut in and said, "Ask us anything."

Callie thought on the first question she needed to ask. "Valentina said there was no head injury or anything. Teresa fell asleep, healthy, and didn't wake up the next morning."

"That's right," Marco said.

Callie hummed to herself. "That's what happened with my brother too. The doctors couldn't make heads or tails of it. Did every scan and test they could think of and turned up nothing."

"With Teresa too, they have no clue," Marco said. "Your brother woke up though, right?"

Callie nodded. "About three months later."

"Three months?" Raul spoke again, falling against the refrigerator. "Three months!?"

"Only because it took that long to figure out what was wrong with him," Callie rushed to say. "My parents exhausted every option. My mom even got a priest. Some other stuff was going on and finally my grandma called a friend, and that friend helped."

"How?" Raul asked.

Callie sighed. Knowing how Raul reacted to even the suggestion of spirits before from family, she couldn't imagine that her story would derive a different reaction. So, she resolved to tread lightly. "It's… incredible. Not like – wow, this is _great_ – kind of incredible. More like, unbelievable – you might want to chuck me in the loony bin – incredible. I can only tell you what I know, and I have to be upfront and tell you that this is all secondhand too."

"I thought you said this happened to your brother," Marco said.

"Yes, and he is almost eight years older than me. I was just a baby when all of this happened," she said. "I don't remember any of it. It was a big secret for most of my childhood until my mom told me everything. And I have no proof to offer you outside of some old hospital bills that don't really help when it comes to the solution."

"You said a friend of your grandmother's helped, were they a doctor or something? Can they help Teresa now?" Marco asked quickly.

Callie shook her head sadly. "No, and... no. Elise died right after my brother woke up. She… she was killed."

There was a beat of silence before Callie forced herself to speak again.

"I personally can't do anything, not like Elise did," she said. "I'm not like her. But I can get in touch with her… colleagues. I would like to help in any way I possibly can before it's too late. It got really close for my brother, Dalton, and I don't want that to happen to your sister."

"It got close… like your brother almost died?" Raul questioned.

"We almost lost him forever," Callie revealed.


	5. Chapter 5

"I want to be crystal clear that I am no expert in any of this at all," Callie said. "But everything Valentina was telling me sounded… eerily similar to everything with Dalton. I felt obligated to say something. Even if you call me crazy."

"Can we get to the point?" Raul snapped. "I feel like you're stalling for some reason."

Callie leaned back in her chair and tiredly rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "You would too, trust me. Valentina also told me about some weird things happening around Teresa's room too. Have either of you experienced strange phenomena like that?"

Marco and Raul shared a look. Raul clearly didn't want to talk about any of it. But Marco… Marco couldn't ignore the truth staring them in the face. "Come check out my sister's room."

"Marco!" Raul snapped at his brother. This was a stranger. A woman they didn't know if they could trust. But Marco brushed him off and led the stranger to Teresa's bedroom.

When Callie saw it, she gasped sharply at the site. "What – when did this happen?"

"Right before Raul got back, when you got here too," Marco told her. "I saw someone here. I heard him in the hallway, and I saw him, and he pushed me down and went into Teresa's room and did this all in like five seconds and then he was gone. Well, the lights went out, all this happened, and then when I turned the lights back on, he was gone, and the room was like this."

"What did he look like?" Callie asked.

Marco hovered at Teresa's side and pondered the question. "Tall, pale, dark, nasty. Like a monster playing human."

Callie looked at Teresa. "She's okay, right?"

"I checked her, she's fine," Raul said roughly.

"Marco? Can you check her bedsheets?" Callie requested timidly.

Marco wanted to ask why but didn't see the point of refusing. He just started ruffling through his sister's bedding until his hands encountered something damp. He tossed the duvet off of her and revealed damp white sheets underneath at Teresa's feet. He started pulling it from her mattress and froze when he saw little droplets of blood on the sheet.

"What the hell?" Raul hissed as he went to the bed and started scanning his little sister.

"It's not hers," Callie said from the doorway.

Both brothers whipped their heads to look at her.

"Valentina told me that she found blood drops with fingerprints in them on the sheets before and Teresa had been unharmed then," Callie revealed. "I think it happened during whatever struggle there was in this room. My mom told me she once found a bloody handprint in Dalton's bed too. That might have been what pushed her to call a priest. She was never strictly religious."

"So, this is like your brother," Marco said. "What's causing it?"

Callie shrugged helplessly. "It's more of a who. But there are a lot of factors. I think Teresa is different. Like my brother, and my father, were different."

Marco looked at his brother. "Abuelita was right. It's La Llorona. I know you don't like her, Junior, and I don't either. But she and Tina were right. The spirit of La Llorona has Teresa trapped in her mind somewhere."

Raul wanted to smack his brother upside the head. But he settled on gearing up to lecture Marco about La Llorona being a made-up story.

"Wait, what?" Callie cut in. "La Llorona? Like the Wailing Woman?"

Marco nodded rapidly. "Yeah, yeah, she goes after children. The legend had to come from somewhere, right? It's got to be her."

"Well… I don't know about all of that," Callie said hesitantly.

Raul turned to his brother, smug now. "See? Even she agrees that this isn't a spirit."

Callie's mouth curved down. "I'm not saying that."

Raul huffed. He was surrounded by crazy people searching for any explanation. Marco – out of desperation for his sister. But he didn't know Callie's motives. At least he was still keeping his head.

"You think this is supernatural too!?" he asked the woman. "What am I saying? You're Tina's friend, of course you're as wrapped up in that stuff as she is. But you're not convincing me, and you're not getting any money from me either! I don't know your angle—"

"I have no angle!" Callie cut him off sharply. "And I don't want your money. I don't want anything but to maybe be able to help your sister. All I can do is give you the information, and even then, it's not guaranteed that what worked for my brother will work for Teresa. I don't know if it's the same thing, or even the same situation, but it's similar enough for me to come to you and tell you, even risking being called crazy. I was expecting it far before this point. And I'm not even done."

"What else is there!?" Raul shouted.

Callie took a calming breath before continuing. "Look – I understand that this sounds like I'm either insane or trying to sell you something, and I would probably agree. My parents had to reach a really high breaking point before they believed it too. More than half the time there are perfectly logical – albeit uncommon – explanations for this stuff. My family just fell into the… outside of logical and normal range of explanations."

"Get to the point!" Raul said.

"Okay, and then I'm gonna leave and you guys can just… think about what I've said, okay?" she said. "My brother could go places when he slept. Elise called people like that travelers. My dad was one too. I think Teresa might be like that. But kids… they're not scared, they're innocent, and they're dreaming. It isn't real to them. Because of that, Dalton went too far one night while he was travelling in his sleep. He went to this place, Elise called it the Further. Where malicious spirits are, and they latch onto the living and don't let go. Because they want to taste life again. This… demon, was trying to take over my brother's body. It's a long process that takes a lot of power and persistence. The demon got really close. My dad had to follow Dalton into the Further and lead him back home. And it worked. Not without some repercussions, but it worked."

A beat of silence passed them. Raul looked ready to throw her out. Marco looked contemplative.

"Elise is dead but the others who helped her help my family are still around and I can get ahold of them on your behalf if you want," Callie added. "I haven't talked to anyone about this outside of Valentina. And I won't. That's your business. This is your family. And I may be wrong."

"I'm more worried that you might not be wrong," Marco rasped, fear piercing his gut.

"Me too. But I really hope I am," Callie whispered back to him. She cleared her abruptly blocked throat and then said, "I'll show myself out. Valentina has my number if you want to talk. I won't hold it against you to decide not to. I really hope Teresa pulls out of this. So, um… bye then." She quietly turned on her heel and padded out of the room. A few moments later, they heard the door open and shut.


End file.
